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US should consider ban on Boohoo clothing, says charity

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A charity has urged US authorities to consider a ban on Boohoo’s clothing over poor conditions in the online fashion seller’s UK supply chain.

Liberty Shared, which campaigns against modern slavery, said it had sent a petition to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on 1 February concerning “the potential prohibition of importation into the United States of apparel sold by Boohoo” if products were found to contain materials made with forced labour.

A second similar petition sent on 7 February outlined potential problems in clothing factories throughout Leicester East, where Boohoo is thought to buy more than 60% of the goods made.

The Boohoo petition references a number of studies into conditions in Leicester factories including an independent review carried out by Alison Levitt QC last year and study by the Centre for Social Justice and Justice & Care published last year.

The Boohoo-commissioned Levitt review found that allegations of poor working practices in the company’s supply chain were “substantially true”. The company has since appointed Sir Brian Leveson, the retired judge who led the phone-hacking inquiry, to oversee the overhaul of its supply chain.

Hong Kong based Liberty Shared argues that the supply chain in Leicester has “a high potential for forced labour”, partly because local police and government provision for prevention, protection and prosecution on forced labour issues is “currently inadequate and therefore the vulnerable are at high risk of being victimised”.

Boohoo said it had not received any correspondence from and was not aware of any investigation by the US CBP which has the power to impose a ban on imports if it finds evidence of modern slavery.

In a statement to the stock market, Manchester-based Boohoo said: “The group is confident in the actions it is taking to ensure that all of its products meet the CBP criteria on preventing the product of forced labour entering the US (or any of its markets). Boohoo continues to fulfil orders to customers in the US across all of its brands. The group will work with any competent authority to provide assurance that products from its supply chain meet the required standard.”

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Simon Bowler, an analyst at Numis, said: “Orders to prevent the import of product under these regulations look to be rare, and the nature of an investigation across a complicated supply chain that is in the process of being overhauled, for which no evidence of modern slavery has yet been found by current UK enforcement bodies, means that the direct risk arising from these letters feels remote.”

However, he added that the US was an important market for Boohoo, accounting for a quarter of revenues, and concerns about a ban were “another element of risk for investors”.

Shares in Boohoo, which recently bought the Debenhams brand to sit alongside its Pretty Little Thing, NastyGal, Warehouse, Karen Millen and Oasis labels, were down 4.5% on Tuesday afternoon.

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